Which [hope] we have as an anchor of the soul
This world is as a sea; the church in it, and so every believer,
is as a ship; the port that is bound unto is heaven; Christ is
the pilot, and hope is the anchor: an anchor is cast on a bottom,
out of sight; and when the ship is in a calm, or in danger of a
rock, or near the shore; but is of no service without a cable:
and when cast aright, keeps the ship steady: so hope is cast on
Christ; whence he is often called hope itself, because he is the
ground and foundation of it, and who is at present unseen to
bodily eyes; and the anchor of hope without the cable of faith is
of little service; but being cast aright on Christ, keeps the
soul steady and immovable: in some things there is a difference
between hope and an anchor; an anchor is not of so much use in
tempests as in a calm, but hope is; the cable may be cut or
broke, and so the anchor be useless, but so it cannot be with
faith and hope; when the ship is at anchor, it does not move
forward, but it is not so with the soul, when hope is in
exercise; the anchor of hope is not cast on anything below, but
above; and here it is called the anchor of the soul, to
distinguish it from any other, and to show the peculiar benefit
of it to the soul. Pythagoras makes use of the same metaphor
F24;
``riches (he says) are a weak anchor, glory: is yet weaker; the body likewise; principalities, honours, all these are weak and without strength; what then are strong anchors? prudence, magnanimity, fortitude; these no tempest shakes.''But these philosophical moral virtues are not to be compared with the Christian's grace of hope, which is
both sure and steadfast;
it is in itself a grace firm and stable; it is permanent and can
never be lost: and it is still more sure and steadfast, by virtue
of what it is fixed upon, the person, blood, and righteousness of
Christ; and by the immutability, faithfulness, and power of God
it is concerned with; and through the aboundings and discoveries
of divine love, grace, and mercy; and from the instances of grace
to the vilest of sinners:
and which entereth into that within the vail;
the holy of holies, heaven itself; in allusion to the vail which
divided between the holy and the holy of holies: the things
within the vail, or in heaven, which hope entering into fixes
upon, are the person of Christ, who is entered there, and appears
in the presence of God for his people; his blood which he has
carried along with him, and by which he is entered there; his
justifying righteousness, by which the law is fulfilled, the two
tables of stone in the ark of the testimony; the sweet incense of
his mediation, which is continually offered up by him; the mercy
seat, or throne of grace, on which Jehovah sits as the God of
grace; and all the glories of heaven; all which hope is concerned
with, and receives strength and rigour from: and their being
within the vail, is expressive of their hiddenness and
invisibility at present, and of their safety and security, as
well as of their sacredness; and this shows a difference between
the hope of believers and others, whose hope fixes upon things
short of these; and likewise the great privilege of a believer,
who being made a priest unto God, has liberty and boldness to
enter into the holiest of all. The Jews F25 speak
of a vail in the world to come, which some are worthy to enter
into.